Featured Brunch: DBGB
Arthur Bovino — August 27, 2010
Mussels “Poulette” and Pommes Mousseline at DBGB Kitchen & Bar.
When you think DBGB, seafood isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But, if it’s still not cool enough for Jim’s Matzoh Ball Soup, and you need something lighter than the brunch menu’s burgers, brats, or more traditional French toast and waffle fare, there’s a do-it-yourself seafood brunch combination that’s satisfying. (And filling if you supplement it with the restaurant’s great potatoes.)
Featured Brunch: New York’s Hangover Dishes
Arthur Bovino — August 20, 2010
Hangover Pasta at Resto.
Hangovers cures are like hiccup cures— everyone has a theory about what works best. If you read the online, ah-hem, literature about what constitutes the best hangover cures you find all kinds of baloney:
Eat bananas. Peanut butter! No, prickly pear juice! Coconut water. Drink coffee. Don’t drink coffee! If you do drink coffee, drink a lot of water! Eat fried foods! But only before, not after. Have a little hair of the dog. Try a Prairie Oyster. Stop, drinking again is the worst thing to do— it causes alcohol dependency. Eat burned toast. No, drink sports drinks! Take Advil. Don’t take Advil! It will explode your liver. Take aspirin. B-6. B-12. Rosiglitazone. No, Berocca. Hey, I heard that American Indians claim that eating six raw almonds before imbibing helps prevent intoxication. Really? My friend said that eating peanut butter beforehand is an African remedy. Exercise. Sex. Sleep. No, don’t sleep!
Sshhh. Don’t scream— makes it worse. Some of these ‘cures’ sounds like torture. Exercise? Burned toast? Not sure about the last time you went on a bender, but likely you weren’t planning enough to eat almonds, or have Rosiglitazone. Recovery is about water, and what works for you.
For many, food is the best cure— something to make you feel better, placebo or not. So, it’s no surprise there are more than 40 dishes on New York brunch menus that include ‘hangover’ in name or description. There are boring ones— juices, egg platters— but intriguing ones too. Given that the last thing you want to do hungover is read gobs of text, here’s a list of interesting hangover brunch dishes.
Featured Brunch: Seersucker
Arthur Bovino — August 13, 2010
Fried Chicken Livers and Gravy, a killer brunch dish at Seersucker in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
You may have already been to chef Robert Newton’s new Carroll Gardens restaurant, Seersucker, for dinner. You may have tried the Pan-Roasted Quail, the Crispy Pig’s Foot, Country Cassoulet, Shrimp and Grits, even pitted their Deviled Eggs against another stellar Carroll Gardens rendition, those at Clover Club. But if you haven’t done brunch, you’re missing out on one of the City’s best new dishes. The space is down-home and hip, but crisp, with lots of cement and awesome air-conditioning. Go all-cotton and you might be cold. You also may have trouble deciding what to order.
Egg person? Which of these choices? Opt for what is essentially a Fried Green Tomatoes Benedict, or go with the two eggs served with either 1) Country Ham, Grits and Red Eye Gravy 2) Biscuits and Sausage Gravy 3) Pork Hash and Biscuit? Not into eggs? Do you go Catfish Po’boy, or Fried Chicken Livers with Gravy? The answer? Basically look at these options and say, “Yes.”
Featured Brunch: 6th Street Kitchen
Maryse Chevrière — August 06, 2010
“Bacon and Eggs” at 6th Street Kitchen in the East Village. Pork Belly, Radicchio, Coddled Egg.
Among restaurants in the East Village, brunch competition is stiff. There’s the fried chicken with pancake-soft waffles at Back Forty. A spicy, hangover-perfect mix of scrambled eggs, chorizo, and French fries at Hecho en Dumbo. Bagels galore. How do you choose? More importantly, how does a newcomer to the neighborhood vie for your attention?
Pork belly with coddled eggs are a good way to start. At relative neighborhood newbie, 6th Street Kitchen, the “Bacon and Eggs” are near impossible to overlook. The dish arrives appearing as if ready to meet expectations— it’s very pretty. At the base are slabs of pork belly, perfectly uniform little rectangles, well-peppered and salty with a seared-on crunch. They’re buried underneath a confetti of tangy radicchio, on top of which is a coddled egg that offers a little yolk for sauce.
Featured Brunch: Joseph Leonard
Maryse Chevrière — July 30, 2010
Saucisson a L’Ail: Pork and Garlic Sausage, Fried Eggs, Hash Brown, Crème Fraîche and Arugula.
That on a recent Sunday three dishes had been 86’d from the brunch menu at Joseph Leonard (including the day’s special), says something about the restaurant’s weekend dining program: it’s popular.
But removing the Biscuits and Gravy, Croque Madame, and the Watermelon Salad, while disappointing, still leaves several tempting options. You can stick with the familiar— Lox on Rye, Brioche French Toast— or lean towards the more creative— Beef Tongue Corned Beef, Saucisson a L’Ail. The latter ($13) presents sausage and eggs perhaps not as you expected. The pork and garlic sausage is loose and terrine-like, delicately sliced and held together by a ghost casing. With it are two fried eggs and a fat nest of a hash brown with a super crunchy shell.
Featured Brunch: Roberta’s
Arthur Bovino — July 23, 2010
Clockwise from top: Duck Egg and Mortadella Sandwich and Iced Tea at Roberta’s in Brooklyn.
The concrete jungle sizzles in summer. Light twinkles off the glass condo windows through waves of heat. You get jostled by sweaty sidewalk-denizens. The City is too much. Too full, too busy, too— too much. It’s Saturday. Almost noon. Or maybe Sunday and already past two. You’re hungry. Need food. Brunch. Breakfast. But you don’t want French toast. Enough Eggs Benedict. You laugh in the face of omelettes. You want something different, somewhere else. It’s time to flip this meal upside-down. You need to head to Brooklyn— to Roberta’s. You need pizza for brunch.
Featured Brunch: Traif
Arthur Bovino — July 16, 2010
Clockwise from top left: patio and Crispy Braised Bacon with Soba in Smoky Miso Broth with Sunny Egg, at Traif in Williamsburg.
It’s a good sign when you look for reasons to visit a restaurant. With Traif, chef Jason Marcus’ ode to all things unkosher in Williamsburg, that reason was a hunch that it might be a great unheralded brunch spot—a hunch inspired by the Seared Foie, Fingerlings with Sunny Egg, Ham Chips, Maple, and Hot Sauce, and the Braised Berkshire Pork Cheeks with Polenta, both sampled on a previous visit.
Featured Brunch: Hecho en Dumbo
Maryse Chevrière — July 09, 2010
Huevos Estrellados “Lucio” at Hecho en Dumbo.
It is possible to do a seven-day-a-week brunch, and a quality one at that. Those who scoff should pay a visit to Hecho en Dumbo, the fresh-faced, East Village, Mexican joint on the Bowery.
Replacing the typical Bloody Mary is a Michelada Cubana: Valentina salsa, Worcestershire sauce, Maggi seasoning, and fresh lime juice, cut with Bohemia lager. It’s spicy, but more refreshing than you’d expect. If that’s not quite your calling, the Margarita de Jamaica is highly recommended.
Featured Brunch: Vinegar Hill House
Arthur Bovino — July 02, 2010
Reuben Sanchez: braised corned beef, sharp Cheddar, Tomatillo-Jalapeño Jam.
Sometimes brunch is better on Saturday. Sometimes, it’s better to do the far end of the brunch stretch. If you don’t mind lounging in bed, wait and let that 11 o’clock start pass in favor of a 2 o’clock meal. On those occasions, one of the perfect brunches is at Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn. Outside, inside, wherever you want, there’s less of a wait and the food is just as good.
Featured Brunch: Locanda Verde
Maryse Chevrière — June 25, 2010
Clockwise from top: “Scampi and Grits,” Bloody Mary della Casa, Housemade Sausage.
Well-deserved praise has been bestowed upon Locanda Verde’s breakfast and pastries. And while many of the stars—Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Hazelnut-crusted French Toast, and a Blueberry Cake Doughnut—are on the brunch menu, there’s reason to stray towards savory items. Open with a Bloody Mary Della Casa— smooth, not spicy, and served with a hot Italian pepper and a cube of mortadella.
“Scampi and Grits,” a Southern classic reinterpreted through an Italian lens, is an absolute must-order. There are small rock shrimp, so tender and delicate they break the way an orange vesicle does. They’re mixed with nubs of sausage in a tomato sauce that is more sweet than savory. It’s wonderful over the not too coarsely textured polenta and mixed with the yolk from two coddled eggs. You wonder about the possibilities of this sauce tossed with any of the restaurant’s excellent pastas.
Featured Brunch: Egg in a Nest at Penny Farthing
Maryse Chevrière — June 18, 2010
Egg in a Nest: Two Eggs served any style over Breaded Parmesan Toast with Home Fries.
For all the positive buzz about the antique-industrial design of the East Village newcomer, Penny Farthing, its menu has not garnered the same respect. But sometimes you have to test the baseline, and at brunch, that means the greatest hits— Eggs Benedict (of course), French Toast, Steak and Eggs, and a childhood favorite, Egg in a Nest.
Penny Farthing’s Egg in a Nest is a dish known by many aliases: Egg-in-a-Basket, Moon Egg, Bull’s Eye, and Egg-in-the-Hole. That’s just to name a few. Two eggs are served in a breaded Parmesan toast “nest.” You can appreciate the thinness of the buttery toast as a better vessel for soaking up that extra-runny yolk. Sure, the loose sprinkling of Parmesan could be slightly more heavy-handed, and more melted, but it adds a nice touch of salt when you do get those gooey, cheesy bites. This is by no means on the same playing field as ‘inoteca’s luscious, signature Truffled Egg Toast. Still, with a side of fruit and home fries, it can strike a homey, comfort dish chord.
Of course, with Ssäm Bar and Milk Bar literally up 13th Street, it may not be the most interesting brunch option in a neighborhood known for culinary diversity. But, if you’re in the mood for something classic and familiar, Penny Farthing fits the bill quite nicely.
Featured Brunch: Balaboosta
Maryse Chevrière — June 11, 2010
Coconut Brioche French Toast stuffed with Cream Cheese and served with Stewed Strawberries.
On a warm, summer Sunday afternoon, the SoHo-Nolita juncture at Mulberry Street can be frazzle-inducing. Throngs of bag-toting tourists weave down Broadway, a crowded street fair along the Little Italy main drag, the scene outside Balthazar. You’re hungry. You just want a quiet, no-need-to-wait brunch— a few small plates. For this, take refuge in Balaboosta, the young off-shoot from Taïm chef, Einat Admony, where familiar dishes are given the Middle Eastern treatment.
Featured Brunch: Maialino’s Pesce Spada Affumicato
Maryse Chevrière — June 04, 2010
Pesce Spada Affumicato at Maialino.
Smoked fish, cream, onion, toast— a combination familiar to New York’s brunch scene. But at the Gramercy darling, Maialino, the concept is given fresh legs Italian-style: Pesce Spada Affumicato.
The customary lox is replaced with smoked swordfish that is clean and simple, like a breakfast crudo. The fish is mild but with a meatier texture than you would expect for such a thin slice. It’s a plate that begs for do-it-yourself construction. A shmear of smooth robiolina on thin, chewy toast, swordfish on top of that, finished with a tart sliver of pickled red onion. A side of bitter greens, well-dressed with a splash of acid, helps you slow down and keep pace between bites.
Featured Brunch: Yerba Buena Perry
Maryse Chevrière — May 28, 2010
Sandwich Cubano at Yerba Buena Perry.
The brunch menu at Julian Medina’s Yerba Buena Perry presents you with that problem-you-want-to-have situation of too many good-sounding dishes to chose from. On it you’ll find brunch staples tweaked with Latin flavors— Cachapa Benedict with Serrano Ham over a Sweet Corn Cake, French Toast with Manchego Dulce de Leche. But, there are also familiar classics like Churros, Huevos Rancheros, and a Cuban Sandwich. The solution? Arrive hungry and over-order.
Featured Brunch: Back Forty
Maryse Chevrière — May 21, 2010
Fried Chicken and Waffles at Back Forty in the East Village.
It’s early Sunday afternoon, sunny, and you’re sitting on a patio outdoors with a group of friends, plates full of eggs, cocktails in hand. It’s a textbook brunch, and one that can be had at Back Forty.
The comfort food-bent East Village spot is no secret to brunchers. Even if you haven’t been, you’ve probably heard tell of the Fried Chicken and Waffles. Three pieces of thin, crisp chicken paired with pancake-soft waffles. A side of maple syrup is the only sauce. It’s all you need— but in moderation, please— there’s enough flavor and juiciness in the chicken to satisfy. It’s the kind of dish you’ve had before, and despite ambitions of wanting to try something new, can’t help but order it again.
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